


if your cascade, ocean blue waves come

by TessTheDreamer



Series: AUgust 2020 Short Fic [22]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Future, Cybernetics, Ember Island (Avatar), First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, kind of, mostly yearning, sokka's a hacker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessTheDreamer/pseuds/TessTheDreamer
Summary: "Besides the rustling of the trees and the laughter of tourists taking a late night swim on the beach, it was quiet. Peaceful. He breathed in the moment, enjoyed it for a few seconds.That’s when Zuko showed up."Or: Zuko gets into a fight, Sokka helps him out afterwards, and things kind of go from there.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: AUgust 2020 Short Fic [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856617
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79
Collections: AUgust 2020





	if your cascade, ocean blue waves come

**Author's Note:**

> Title from peace by Taylor Swift, aka the Zukka anthem.

The night was calm, and Sokka was content. He didn’t get many calm days, due to the fact that he traveled with the Avatar, the most wanted boy in the four nations. But ever since their little gang had arrived on the tourist destination that was Ember Island, the days were much calmer. Even more than the Western Air Temple. While being in Fire Nation territory was nerve wracking, it was much less so then the constant threat of falling off the Temple. Plus, getting food was a lot easier, which was always a good thing for him.

He sat, sharpening his blade in the main room/courtyard while he waited for his hacks to break through the Firelord’s firewalls (ha!) and for his friends to come back from the store. Besides the rustling of the trees and the laughter of tourists taking a late night swim on the beach, it was quiet. Peaceful. He breathed in the moment, enjoyed it for a few seconds. 

That’s when Zuko showed up.

He stumbled through the door, tripping over something and dropping to his knees. The bags he was carrying on his elbow hit the ground with a _thump_. 

His black hood hid his face, and Sokka cursed it as he jumped to his feet, even though his heart fluttered when he realized who it was. The firebender always made his heart do something weird, especially after he had joined Team Avatar. “Zuko! What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” he said, which means that there was definitely something wrong. He was a horrible liar. He raised his head and pulled back his hood, scowling. “I’m fine. My cybernetics just need to be fixed. And you should see the other guys.”

“Guys? As in plural?” Sokka dropped to his knees in front of him, getting a better look at his face. His lip was split, and he had a bruise on his cheek, but the worst was the cybernetics that he wore around his scarred eye. It covered the scar that practically broadcasted his identity, and helped him see out of the eye. There was a crack across it, and it would definitely need fixing. Whatever happened to break it, it must have hurt. He winced at the thought. 

“Tui and La, what happened?” he asked. He carefully slid the tech off of his face, hoping that it didn’t hurt, and set it to the side. “I thought you guys were just going shopping.” 

Zuko frowned, obviously trying to look intimidating or something. It didn’t work. “We were. We split up, and on the way back I saw some assholes mugging an old man.”

“So what, you just fought them?”

He nodded, and Sokka sighed. Of course he did (he had probably reminded the firebender of his uncle, but that was a whole other thing to unpack). He swore, his friends would be the death of him. Especially Zuko. 

But then again, if he wasn’t so stupidly reckless, he wouldn’t be his Zuko. 

He was pretty sure he had recognized his feelings for the other boy in Boiling Rock, when he realized how genuine he was. When he realized that Zuko wasn’t just toying with them, when he realized that he really wanted Aang to take down his father. Why else would he break into the highest security prison in the Fire Nation with Sokka if he didn’t care? 

And then he had done that smirky _thing_ in the cooler. How red he still got when he thought of that really proved how much he liked him. 

“Will it be fixed soon?” Zuko asked. If it was anyone else, Sokka would have gotten annoyed, assuming he was being impatient. These things took time, and if he was rushed then that meant they wouldn’t be fixed properly. But he was just asking an innocent question. He actually wanted to know. 

That was Zuko. Always straightforward. 

“Probably by tomorrow or the next day, with the right supplies,” he said. “Which I’ll hopefully have, once the others get back.”

Sokka plugged the tech into his laptop, opening another window next to his hacks and quickly typing a few lines of code. “The code isn’t that damaged, thank the spirits. If it was, it would take forever to fix.” 

“How do you do that?”

“What, code?”

Zuko nodded, leaning in next to him to look at his laptop. He tried not to flush at how close he was, or how fascinated he looked. “Yeah, and hacking. It looks so complicated. There are so many numbers.” 

“I guess it is,” he said, his grin growing as he spoke. “But it gets easier after a while. And it’s really fun! There are so many ways to fix and get around problems, and so many ways to create things using code. And hacking, it’s like a, a battle! But with code. And I like fighting, so, yeah. It’s challenging, I guess, and interesting.” Tui and La, he was _babbling_. Like an idiot. “Sorry for babbling.” 

“It’s okay,” Zuko said. He still looked fascinated, and Sokka wished he could keep that expression on his face “I’ll probably never get it, but you make it sound interesting.” 

“Oh.” His face went red, he could feel it. He needed to change the subject. Now. “Wait, why are you still sitting here? You need ice for that bruise!” 

“It’s not that bad!” he protested, but Sokka was already on his feet and hurrying toward the kitchen. 

“Still, it’s gotta hurt. And your eye! Those muggers must have had to hit you pretty hard to crack your tech.” 

“I guess.” Zuko cracked a self-deprecating smile. “My bruise will probably just blend in with my scar.” 

Sokka snorted, sitting down in front of him and handing him the ice pack. Their fingers brushed as he did that. Zuko’s fingertips were hot, the kind of hot only a firebender could be, and a little rough. Not what you’d expect from a prince. 

He pressed it to his cheek. 

“Can I check out your eye?” he blurted out. Because of course he did. Of course he asked if he could touch his scar. Of course he couldn’t mind his business-

“Oh. Uh. Sure.”

Sokka blinked. 

Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all. 

He reached up with a hesitant hand, lightly prodding his face with his index and middle finger. The skin was rough, much rougher than his fingertips, and a little hotter than the rest of him. His scarred eye was squintier than his other one, but the same shade of beautiful burning gold. 

He was hyper aware of how close their bodies were. Every cell in his body tingled because of it. 

“Does this hurt?” Sokka asked, pushing a little deeper. “And be honest. I’ll get Toph to tell if you’re lying to me.” 

He shuddered at the thought of their mutual friend. “A little. It’s probably just a bruise.” 

“Still, make sure to ice it.”

“Fine!” 

For a moment, they sat in shared silence, Zuko pressing the ice pack to his cheek and scowling. He looked a little weird. Like he had something he wanted to say, his pretty lips begging for him to say it. Sokka wanted nothing more but to listen. 

He finally caved. He was never the most patient person. “What is it?”

He blushed, breaking eye contact to stare determinedly at the floor. “Oh. You’re just the only, uh, one who can touch my scar.” 

Oh. 

That felt . . . he didn’t know. Special. 

For most of Sokka’s young life, he shared everything he had with his sister. She was the special one, the last waterbender in the South Pole. And he didn’t mind that, he never did.

But this felt like a place just for him.

“I’m flattered,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say. 

“I don’t . . . react well when others do,” Zuko admitted, sounding smaller by the second. “Not even my uncle. But you can.” 

“Why?” He wasn’t quite sure why he asked. 

“I trust you, I guess.” 

And that felt special too. Special, and precious. He didn’t want to break that trust. 

But Sokka also really wanted to kiss him. And the way Zuko was looking at him . . .

“Zuko,” he said. He reached up and cupped his jaw, on his scarred side. “Can I-”

He nodded instantly, eager and sure. It was the most sure of himself he had seen when he wasn’t fighting. “Yes.” The word sounded glorious, like war paint and battles won and the soft moments in between. 

He pulled him in by the back of his neck and his shirt, pressing their lips together. 

Kissing Yue had been soft, shy and sweet and chaste. Kissing Suki had been fierce, passion and teeth and leftover adrenaline from battle. 

Kissing Zuko was like a mixture of the two, and somehow better than both. 

His lips were soft, and the kiss was chaste, but he could feel the passion simmering under his skin like the fire he bended. Sokka could feel the heat of his lips, his cheek, his waist, his mouth. He tasted like spices and jasmine tea, he felt like flames.

Kissing him made Sokka feel _alive_. 

He had never been more aware that he was Fire Nation, the Fire Prince. He’d never loved it more. 

They broke apart eternities later, both gasping for air. The ice pack had been discarded on the ground. Sokka’s hand was still on Zuko’s waist. 

“Whoa,” Zuko said, and he laughed. 

“Good, huh?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. 

He answered the question with another kiss, putting one hand on his waist and threading the other through his hair. He eagerly returned the kiss. 

The night was not calm, but Sokka was still content. 


End file.
